ICC allows Duterte to skip Feb. 27 hearing on his detention

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has granted former President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to skip his detention hearing scheduled on February 27, 2026.

In a four-page ruling dated February 25, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I approved the 80-year-old Duterte’s written request dated February 23 in which he waived his right to be present at the annual hearing on his detention. 

The annual hearing on detention is scheduled to be held on Friday, February 27 at 2 p.m. in The Hague – the last day of the chamber’s confirmation of charges hearing against Duterte.

“The Chamber notes Mr. Duterte’s statements that he understands that he has a right to be present at the hearing but ‘wish[es] to waive this right’ and that his ‘Counsel has explained to [him] the legal consequences emanating from such a waiver,’” the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I said.

It added: “Considering that nothing in the Court’s legal framework requires the presence of the suspect at the hearing mandated by rule 118(3) of the Rules, the Chamber finds that, in the present circumstances, it is appropriate to grant Mr. Duterte’s Request.”

On Monday, the defense submitted the former President’s written request, in which they noted that the ICC does not mandate the suspect’s appearance at the annual hearing on issues of pre-trial detention.

READ: DAY IN COURT: ICC Hearings on the Charges vs. Duterte 

Earlier, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I also granted his request not to attend the confirmation of charges hearings this week in connection with his war on illegal drugs.

Duterte said he wished to skip the hearings as he does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction over him. He added that he is “old, tired and frail” and wished that the court would respect his peace inside his detention cell.

The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I began the confirmation of charges hearings against Duterte on Monday, with the prosecution charging him with three counts of crimes against humanity (murder and attempted murder) in his implementation of his anti-narcotics campaign.

Prosecutors also named his co-perpetrators and outlined their roles during Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs during his term as Davao City mayor and later as President.

They also cited the killings of then Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, and 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos at the height of the war on illegal drugs.

The Office of the Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV) later said the ICC prosecutors met the evidentiary standard for the confirmation of the charges against Duterte.

However, Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, said the evidence against Duterte was “wholly insufficient” and claimed that the prosecution “cherry-picked” Duterte’s speeches to suit its narrative.

On Monday, he said Duterte’s speeches that the prosecution cited do not manifest “criminal intent."

Kaufman added that the allegations against his client were “grievously misplaced and politically motivated” as he urged the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to send back the former President to his family and country.

He said Duterte’s “hyperbole, bluster, and rhetoric” did not have lethal intent and was calculated to instill fear, obedience, and a respect for the law in the minds of drug suspects.

During the resumption of the confirmation of charges hearings on Thursday, February 26, Duterte’s lawyers are set to present their submission on the merits.

The hearing on Duterte’s detention will follow after the Pre-Trial Chamber I hears the closing statements of the prosecution, defense, and victims’ counsels on Friday.

He has been detained at the ICC Detention Centre on the outskirts of The Hague in The Netherlands since his arrest in March 2025.

In November 2025, the ICC denied his appeal on the rejection of his request for interim release and ruled that he will continue to be detained at the Scheveningen Prison. — JMA, GMA Integrated News